Agent of Seraphim-Chapter 53: Cyborg Arm
"Karl and the others seemed to be doing well," Brand said to his angel guide.
His teammates had reunited with Ed’s team. From the Map, he saw they were progressing toward the chamber, where the Worm Statue lies.
"They’re moving quite fast... But I hope they can relax a bit?" Brand raised his concern.
"They’re probably trying their best to search out the statue as quick as possible," Seraphine said.
"They’re trying to save you." She giggled.
"If they break the statue before I reach the ruin?" He asked, with concern about the mission’s completion.
He was risking his precious skill here. Failure of the mission would mean he would have to say goodbye to ’Consume.’
"You just had to reach the ruin before they did." Seraphine teased. "Simple, right?"
"That just means that there was no clear time limit..." He guessed that the rift would eject him once the Worm Statue was broken. It would be registered as a raid completion.
If the others continued to progress smoothly, he really might fail the mission and lose his precious skill.
’Though I’m not sure of the Title... It just made me a bait for the worms.’
After checking his Map for the last time to check on his teammates, Brand stormed the horde of worms ahead.
He wondered why he didn’t leave a beetle scout with the expedition team. If he did, he could check the situation over there by sharing his senses.
’Although if I really did, Karl would have noticed it.’ He consoled himself.
Nevertheless, he just had to do what he always does.
To do his best. Maximum effort!’
Getting through thousands of demon worms was too much. Just their existence alone had already formed a black wall that was impossible to see through.
He felt his sense of vision blurred. He felt dizzy because of the constant wriggling movement of the countless worms.
His sight was covered only with worms, just like when he faced Scarab Swarm back then. Except during the swarm attack, he was standing still. Now he had to shove himself, wedged in between the worms, move past them, to reach the target destination.
His condition had been deteriorating since the prolonged battle with the horde of worms.
His left arm was fatigued from the constant knockback by the worms’ relentless assault.
His right arm got numb from the constant stabbing motions.
He felt he wouldn’t make it if this continued. He lacks the endurance to brace through the swarm. So, he decided to use the saved-up Stat Points.
"10 points into STR."
[STR: 30 → 40]
Every factor of 10, there’ll be an additional attribute bonus. Thus, Brand directly raised 10 points in STR for the bonus.
He aimed to enhance his endurance, to fight through the countless demons.
’Attrition war...’
There was still a great distance before reaching the ruin, from what he had seen on the Map. He progressed too slowly.
’Why is the path to the ruin so long...’
He felt dazed, and his steps wavered. Even breathing was hard now. It was too suffocating.
’I want to find my way up and run above the worm’s head...’
However, he got constantly pushed down due to the effect, and there were also demon worms stacking above him.
He felt his consciousness drifting away, but before he did, he used his most potent attack spell to clear as many demons as he possibly could.
"Reverse Strike..." He released a wave of crimson energy in front of him, taking down any worms it came into contact with.
Then he dropped to the ground, activating Scarab Form at the same time. He had to focus on defense until his mind recovered.
The worms swarmed into him, but he held on with the shield for support.
*
*
[Upgrade Complete: Cyborg Arm.]
His eyelids twitched.
He felt a strange pulse on his right arm, spreading from his shoulder down to his fingertips. It felt like something was crawling under his skin, as if it were alive.
’It took forever to finish the upgrade...’
He grinned beneath the stampedes of demon worms.
’Let’s recover the missing energy first.’
"Consume."
Crimson mist spread across the demon worms, taking out the energy from all the carcasses. Then, he raised his right arm up.
On his right arm, the Scarab Shells were coiling around it, and expanding in volume.
He could feel his cybernetic skin peeling away underneath his Scarab Shell’s exoskeleton. Thread by thread, they weaved themself together with the Scarab Shell.
He felt an intense heat in his arm, as if they were forging a weapon through the reaction.
Threads of dark alloy fibres slithered out like vines, pushing outward and layered on top of each other, condensing themselves to create a shape of...
...claw?
’No... Pincer?’
Two curved blades unfolded from his forearm like a stag beetle bearing its fangs.
He froze. He felt like the world had stopped for a brief moment. He couldn’t hear the shrieking sound of the worms as well.
When he recovered his senses, he knew what he had to do.
He slammed the giant pincer-arm down like a hammer, smashing the demon worms, flattening them, and swinging it in a wide arc. He knocked the worms out, creating a distance between himself and the horde.
With that move, he regained his oxygen supply. Otherwise, he would lose consciousness and be unable to utilise the upgrade he received.
’Please live up to your description!’
He was betting everything on the upgrade he received.
He extended his arm out toward the direction of the ruin and muttered in a low voice.
"Energy Blast."
His pincer-arm snapped open, leaving a narrow, hollow space between the blades. Energy gathered in front of the hollow space. He could see lights flowing out to form a light orb.
He felt energy draining from his body as the light orb was forming. His arm was humming from the vibration of energy.
The energy was released.
A compressed energy blast forward, vaporizing any demon worms it came in contact with, in a single flash. Once it landed, it erupted into a shockwave, decimating the worms around the range.
—BOOM!
The explosion force radiated out and pushed the other worms back, creating a no-worm zone. He was unsure how many demon worms he killed, but he had earned a level from it.
[You have leveled up.]
